Frugal Juneau, tips for the visitor

Mendenhall Glacier is in the Tongass National Forest...and has a visitor center operated by the National Forest Service, it cost three dollars a person to visit it during the summer... it's free during the winter, but you may need a snowmobile to get to the glacier.

When we visited on a cruise ship, we took a city bus, that dropped us off about a mile from the entrance to the park... it was a flat walk and we were surprised to see a black bear and her cub pass about 150 feet in front of us... sights like that are priceless.

Taking the bus also allows you to interact with locals who are more than happy to share with visitors stories about their city.

Frugal Juneau...you can't beat the views

Here is the view from the top of the mountain overlooking Juneau's harbor, the young can hike up, but it is pretty steep and the $24 for a daily tram pass is definitely worth it.

Get off the ship, take the tram up... take some wonderful hikes on the top of the mountain... then come back down for lunch on the ship... repeat in the afternoon.

You will have plenty of time to go to the Red Dog saloon...nothing frugal about the price of beer... but you can enjoy listening to the piano player... sawdust floors and all.

Juneau has the usual touristy shops, cheap T-shirts, and a good microbrewery.

We enjoyed watching the fresh fish been brought up the conveyor belt on the dock... it is quite a sight in there usually are several fishing boats in harbor unloading their catch.

Frugal Juneau... accessibility

Although the city of Juneau, is the capital of Alaska it is accessible only by sea and air... there are plenty of cars, but they arrive by ferries.

You'll feel like you're standing by a runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, as the seaplanes take off one after another.

They take tourists on sightseeing tours of the area, they fly over the glaciers and the views are spectacular.

Did you know that there are more private pilot's licenses per capita in Alaska than any other state?

Just by walking around the downtown area, or taking the local bus, will give you a flavor of the most unusual state capital that exists in our 50 states...all without breaking the budget.